Halifax care home manager on neglect trial was “abrupt and unprofessional”

A nurse who raised concerns about at a Halifax care home has told a jury that her manager was “abrupt and unprofessional”.

Geraldine Wood, who worked at the Elm View nursing home for about four months in 2011, said Holmfirth woman Faheza Simpson would make life difficult for staff if they questioned her.

Simpson, 49, of Huddersfield Road, and the owner of Elm View 65-year-old Philip Bentley, of Woodthorpe Drive, Wakefield, have both denied charges relating to the neglect of four elderly residents at the nursing home.

The jury at Bradford Crown Court has heard allegations that one man and three women all suffered problems with pressure sores at the home which was raided by police and NHS staff in October 2011

Mrs Wood told the jury that she submitted her letter of resignation after she was shouted at by Simpson in front of some residents at the end of a night-shift.

She said a few weeks earlier she had had a face-to-face private meeting with Bentley in which she raised her concerns, including the treatment of pressure sores.

Mrs Wood said Bentley told her to leave it with him, but he said: “You know what Fi’s like. I’ll have to pick my moment to raise this with her.”